last word
10 ways to kill an organisation
Dr Leandro Herrero explains what can go wrong when managers
work to their own scripts and cast their staff in unsuitable roles,
as he talks us through the plot of his latest whodunnit
am talking here about the perfect murder, Hitch-
I
cock style. Forget the arson attack on corporate
headquarters, or the mysterious disappearance of a
company into the annals of history (via a merger
and acquisition that merged nothing and acquired
all, including the logo and a name that ceased to exist
on day one of the union). Im talking about the sub-
tle poisoning of an organisation that goes unseen by
many and only slightly suspected by some. Im talk-
ing about slow poisoning by professional assassins
with a hidden agenda. Im talking about a thriller
script in the husband-poisons-wife-with-small-doses-
of-cyanide genre, where the poison is administered in
an apparently caring atmosphere.
In some organisations its not that difficult to
identify the prime suspects, the toxic managers. You
might even know them well; you may even report to
them. There are two types the obviously obnox-
ious, and the caring. One of them is very dangerous.
Thats right, its the one who cares, and who poi-
sons under the duty of care.
So here are ten script outlines for an organisa-
tional thriller. You can
choose the heroes and vil-
There are two types of toxic lains you want Im just
supplying the outline. You
manager: the obviously obnoxious can also choose the extras
and the caring and the location. Ill be the
producer. If you get back to
me with a developed script, well try Hollywood
first, and share the profits. Alternatively we may try
business schools: the case-study industry is doing
well and, quite frankly, anything is better than learn-
ing about the Toyota penetration of the US market
and the ultimate maximisation of shareholder value
in the car industry in Southern California.
Script 1: I just know
Subtitle: I just know that well do x, but go
and explore all the options.
In this scenario, a senior manager not only openly
relies on teams but declares himself the Great
Defender of the Team Spirit. He nurtures and pro-
tects his team. He makes a point of personally coach-
ing all the project leaders, although this is received
with mixed feelings. He encourages the team to
explore many possibilities, to be open-minded and
see the big picture. But he just knows whats going
to happen. Confronted with a problem, he asks for
ideas, although he already knows the answer. This
pattern is repeated several times, until the team
begins to suspect its wasting its time and that the
Scrip Magazine June 2003 www.scripmag.com
Big Guy is just playing ego. By the time the toxicity
is revealed, half the project leaders have left in pur-
suit of a boss who knows less, and the other half
are either bored or enjoying their stock options.
Script 2: Let them fail
Subtitle: Wrong path but they need to see it
for themselves.
This script is acted out in paternalistic and
patronising organisations where senior manage-
ment has chronically mistaken a business organi-
sation for a primary school. Toxicity is very subtle
because its acted out in a so-called learning envi-
ronment where people learn by their mistakes
and are empowered to take risks. Suspicion is
raised half way through the script when some peo-
ple who fail are fired. The piece ends with people
having a good laugh as the CEO speaks highly
about knowledge management while collecting the
Learning Organisation of the Year Award.
Script 3: Try harder
Subtitle: Guess what I want.
Teams are always not quite there when pre-
senting the results of a three-month analysis of the
problem, and they go back again and again to refine
their exploration. Eventually one project leader has
a revelation and asks: Why dont you tell us what
you want? That would save us from having to keep
going back to the team.
Script 4: I have the answer, whats the
question?
Subtitle: Been there, done that, trust me I
know.
A variation on Script 1, this organisation is gov-
erned by managers who constantly refer back to their
previous experiences. If its a management-change
programme, they bring the McKinsey templates
from their last companys M&A to the first start-up
meeting. The answers are in there and they have
them. If its an HR problem, they are super-psychol-
ogists. If its a financial problem, they know because
theyve been there before. Reality is pretty much
mapped out, causing staff to switch off creatively.
Sudden death occurs in this script when market con-
ditions change drastically, and the combined wisdom
of those experienced managers cant compensate for
the lack of new ideas and imagination.
Script 5: Legitimised suicide
Subtitle: You decide who is redundant this
is a very humane M&A.
The story opens with M&A consulting gurus
deciding its better to let the staff decide who will sur-
vive, rather than burdening the leadership team with
such an inhumane decision. Divisional heads are
gathered and handed a business plan and a timetable.
After several sleepless nights a good third of the man-
agers and staff decide theyll be made redundant, so
they leave. The trick in this script is that theres no
File supplied with permission of PJB Publications Ltd 2003
 last word
Illustration by Rob Wilcockson
Death by management: organisational
poison can come in many forms, but
the effect on a company is almost
always fatal.
File supplied with permission of PJB Publications Ltd 2003
visible murderer. Instead, a number of staff commit
mass suicide while singing a rousing chorus of What
a wonderful human death this is. The finale has a
twist: two surviving divisional heads blame the lead-
ership team for plainly relinquishing their responsi-
bilities and dressing the whole thing up as a demo-
cratic decision, while the CEO uses the case to show
how humane, democratic and open the company is.
Script 6: Do but dont do
Subtitle: Feel free to do, but make sure we
tell you what.
This story is set in a free environment where
people are encouraged to take all sorts of initiatives,
to take action. Examples are numerous. On one occa-
sion a manager implements a programme she feels
shes been encouraged to do. She is reprimanded and
de facto demoted. Puzzled and frustrated, she leaves.
Colleagues demand an explanation, but dont get
very far. The script ends with highlights of collective
frustration when its discovered that this pattern of
do it, but dont do it is common across the board. in organisations.
Script 7: You are empowered to believe me
Subtitle: We are all empowered, but I am
more empowered than others.
This plot borrows heavily from the We are all
equal but some of us are more equal than others
concept. Empowerment is a heavily-used buzzword
in the organisation and figures prominently in its
mission statement. Life is relatively peaceful until a
manager asks the question: What does it mean?.
Infuriated senior management responds with a long
sermon on trust, culture, values and principles.
Small guy asks again: But what does it mean to be
empowered? Big guy says, Look how empowered
I am by the Board. Graffiti starts to appear on walls,
doors and toilet partitions with unpleasant statements
about the credibility of the company rhetoric. The
organisation slowly dies of buzzword intoxication.
Script 8: Maximum accountability, minimum
authority
www.scripmag.com
Subtitle: Great titles, great visibility, great
blindness.
In this script, the organisations accountabilities
are well defined everybody knows what theyre
accountable for. But hidden, small doses of toxicity
come from giving staff the impression that they
have the accompanying authority. It turns out that
this simply isnt true. Authority lies elsewhere, with
people not very accountable for anything other than
accumulating as much authority as possible. Man-
agers egos are boosted with big accountable titles
such as Global Project Leader (a company equiva-
lent of UN Secretary General). A few staff discover
they have no real authority, and escape from the
organisation. Those trapped in become blind. The
Big Titles game is up when more and more man-
agers become suspicious of the mismatch of
accountability and authority. The CEO responds by
creating a new layer of highly-accountable man-
agers with very sexy titles on their business cards.
Script 9: Great goals, great future, great cuts
Subtitle: Were doing well but youre fired.
Growth has been declared within the organisation,
and its annual results arent bad. The CEO declares
high hopes and possibilities. Almost simultaneously,
R&D is cut by 20% and those in the wrong place at
the wrong time are fired, regardless of their talents.
The pattern repeats itself several times as the plot pro-
gresses, until a Pavlovian reflex develops: every time
the CEO announces a good year, excellent results,
we need to grow, staff tremble.
Script 10: Frog boiling
Subtitle: There are two ways to boil a frog
and you should be feeling a bit warm by now.
This is based on the old adage that there are two
ways to boil a frog. One way is to get a pot of boil-
ing water and throw the frog in. The frog burns him-
self, but hops out quickly and survives. The second
way is to put the frog into a pot of cold water and
switch the heat on. The frog is very happy in his
progressively warm and cosy environment until he
boils without noticing. This script is offered for free
interpretation and application to the life of managers
Script 11 mathematics have never been my
forte is based on a combination of the other ten.
In this script, managers believe all the previous
scripts are a bit of a joke, funny stories with ideas
barely elaborated on, certainly not a reflection of
real life, a bit of amusement disguised as manage-
ment thinking. Readers in script 11 mode perhaps
feel rather warm and cosy. Please check that the
heat is off.
Dr Leandro Herrero writes on a management
topic each month in Scrip Magazine. He heads
The Chalfont Project, an international professional
services firm specialising in organisational consult-
ing for the pharmaceutical industry. The Trouble
with Management a collection of Dr Herreros
Last Words can be purchased from PJB Publica-
tions at 20.00 + 5.00 p&p. To order, please tele-
phone +44 (0)20 332 8965/66.
Scrip Magazine June 2003